The invention relates to a roller skate comprising a chassis equipped with rollers and a boot attached removably to the chassis and the sole of which is equipped with a pair of bars or with two pairs of tenons for attaching the boot to the chassis at two points located respectively in the heel region and in the front region of the foot, so that one of these bars, or tenons, can automatically be caught by a catching element which is common to the two bars, or tenons, mounted to slide longitudinally on or in the chassis and subjected to the action of a spring which tends to keep it in the caught-on position, this catching element being arranged and mounted in such a way that it automatically catches on the bars, or tenons, when the bars, or tenons, are pressed down onto the chassis.
Two embodiments of such a roller skate are described in Patent Application EP 0 878 219, the content of which is incorporated by reference. According to a first embodiment, the chassis has two parallel vertical walls in which there are formed V-shaped notches intended to house the bars of the boot. Mounted in the chassis is a longitudinal catching member equipped with two pairs of nibs which lock the bars into the bottom of the V-shaped notches. When the skate is being put on the foot, these nibs are parted by the bars against the action of the spring of the catching element. The bars do not generally engage simultaneously in the V-shaped notches of the chassis; one of the bars may become caught on the chassis while the other bar is not yet caught, or may even remain uncaught.
According to another embodiment, the common catching element is kept in an uncaught open position by a catch which passes through one of the pairs of V-shaped notches of the chassis, this catch being actuated by the engagement of the corresponding bar in these notches so as to release the catching member. If the bar which actuates the catch is engaged in these notches while the other bar is still out of the corresponding notches, what may happen is that this other bar may no longer be able to become caught as the released catching element will close off the corresponding notches. Furthermore, what may happen is that the catch may be actuated inadvertently when manipulating the skate without its boot, and this may cause injury to fingers which may unfortunately have been engaged in one of the notches of the chassis.
The object of the invention is to alleviate the above-mentioned drawbacks.
To this end, the boot according to the invention is one whose chassis is equipped, at least at one boot-attachment point, with an elastically retractable abutment which opposes the movement of the catching element, in the absence of any boot, this abutment being held away from the catching element by one of the bars, or one of the tenons, when the boot is being put on, so as to allow the catching element to catch on the bars, or the tenons.
When the skate is equipped with a catch, only one retractable abutment is needed, at the attachment point where the bar does not encounter the catch. As long as this abutment is not parted from the catching element, actuating the catch will not allow the catching member to advance. This member will not be able to advance into its catching and locking position until both bars are engaged in the chassis. Furthermore, inadvertent actuation of the catch when manipulating the chassis will not, by itself, allow the catch to advance, and this will prevent the user from running the risk of trapping a finger.
When the skate is not equipped with a catch and when the catching member is in the closed position at rest, the chassis is equipped with two retractable abutments, one abutment at each point of attachment of the boot to the chassis, so that the catching element cannot be pushed to then catch on the bars under the action of its spring except when both bars are engaged in the chassis. It is thus possible to be certain that the skate is attached to the chassis at both attachment points.
The retractable abutments may be of the rocking or pivoting type or the type which can move in a translational movement, that is to say which can retract by pushing by the bars or the tenons of the boot.